


A Girl Named Lily IV (and a half)

by Bastetian



Category: Jack West Jr Series - Matthew Reilly
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Post 6SS, Pre 5GW, Reunion, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29217306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bastetian/pseuds/Bastetian
Summary: Missing Stretch, and left behind at Alby's after the laying of the second pillar, for the first time in her short life, Lily is absolutely furious with her Daddy.A little missing scene from the Christmas between Six Sacred Stones and Five Greatest Warriors
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	A Girl Named Lily IV (and a half)

**December 2007**

It was, without a doubt, the worst Christmas of Lily’s young life. The sun barely set at Little McDonald Island in December, dipping down below the horizon only to reappear a few hours later, but it might as well not have bothered. Only a bare glint of its light could sneak through the thick cloud cover that constantly hung over the chain of small isolated islands. It was always cold and grey and damp. The only Christmas dinner they had to look forward to was old canned rations. There would be no candy canes, or fairy lights. No midnight mass, or boxing day test.

Even the promise of her first ever White Christmas couldn’t cheer her up. The twins, Lachlan and Julius Adamson, tried their best. They would start loud snowball fights in an attempt to draw her out for some fun. They built snowmen, and got in trouble with Jack for dwindling their limited supply of fresh vegetables when a pair of carrots were mysteriously appropriated for their noses. They even tried to build an igloo cubby-house for her to play in. But nothing would work.

Lily missed her friends.

She missed Alby, who had been sent back to his family in Perth.   
She missed Fuzzy, and Doris, and Noddy, and especially Big Ears, and everyone who had given their lives to protect her and their mission. Their deaths always sat heavy in her little eleven year old heart.

But right now, most of all, she missed Stretch.

Hanukkah had come and gone, and she hadn’t been able to light the Menorah with him. Because Stretch had been captured by Wolf, her definitely-not-grandpa, and given over to the Mossad. She could still see her Daddy and Wizard’s faces, carefully avoiding any details unsuitable for eleven-year-old ears, as they explained Stretch’s likely ‘mistreatment’ at their hands, and the impossibility of rescue.

All because he had chosen Lily over his loyalty to his country.

And for the first time in her short life, Lily was absolutely furious with her Daddy.

She hardly spoke to him in the few weeks they spent camped out in the safe house, resupplying and planning for the mission ahead. West spent most of it in a makeshift office. There were still four pillars to lay to save the world from the effects of the Dark Star. Zoe and JJ Wickham would often disappear in with Jack for hours, but the door remained shut to Lily.

That suited her just fine.

They had one memorable conversation about friendship, and how it was okay for friends to disagree sometimes. That you could be angry with someone and still love them.

Lily knew she would always love her Daddy. She was proud of him for being a hero. She would help him save the world as many times as it took, but she couldn’t forgive him for not saving Stretch.

Christmas day itself came and went with almost no fanfare. There was a tense feeling that had settled across the group, like storm clouds brewing. They scraped together what meal they could. Lily had helped Zoe make some paper chain decorations. They half-heartedly tried to sing a few songs. Jack had even managed to bring her a Christmas present – a pair of pink heelies that she absolutely loved, though not quite enough to forgive him. It might be their last Christmas. It might very well be the whole world’s last Christmas. They should make the most just in case. But it didn’t feel right to be celebrating. Not without Stretch.

Then before she knew it, they were packing up the _Indian Raider_ and setting course for Perth. Lily would stay with Alby for a while. Whatever adventures West had planned, Lily didn’t seem to have a place in them this time. Jack himself drove her to the Calvin residence, dropped her off under the watchful eye of Lois Calvin, who assured him that Lily would come to absolutely no harm under _her_ care. Unlike Alby, went unsaid – she also hadn’t quite forgiven Jack for returning her son with a broken arm yet.

(Jack hadn’t yet figured out how to get the cast disguising Alby’s bullet wound as a broken arm off. If Lois took him to a doctor, the resulting x-ray would definitely reveal a bone that had never been broken and bring down a hailstorm of questions that Jack was terrified of answering. Saving the world was easy compared to facing down an angry mama-bear. Still, one problem at a time.)

As for Lily, she had the most normal few weeks of her life. Alby’s mum would smother them in sunscreen and insist they wear hats before letting them play outside. She made them eat their vegetables with dinner, and woke them up on Sunday mornings with a huge stack of pancakes. 

She even let them stay up to watch the midnight New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney – the whole family and Lily crowded around the television – but only because the three hour time difference between Sydney and Perth meant they wouldn’t be up past their bedtime anyway.

And every night for two weeks, Lois checked on them both and wish them a good night.

And every night, Lily would fall asleep thinking of Stretch, and her family. So very far away.

For the first time in her life, she realised she had absolutely no idea where any of them were.

Meanwhile, at a secret hideaway on the east coast of Zanzibar, a recognisable black plane was landing. On board were Sky Monster, Zoe, a somewhat bruised Pooh Bear, and a much more battered Stretch.

None of them had been able to rest on the flight back, still high on the adrenaline of the rescue and escape. Zoe had filled Pooh Bear and Stretch in on all the details since Stretch’s capture.

The encounter with the Neetha.  
The laying of the Second Pillar.   
Jack’s fall.   
Christmas at Little McDonald Island.   
Leaving Lily at Alby’s.

How much Lily had missed them both.

As soon as they stepped off the plane, the first thing Stretch wanted was to call her.

Zoe, however, steered them both towards the bathroom of the hideaway instead.   
“Have a look at yourselves first,” she said firmly.

Once they saw themselves in the worn old mirrors hanging above a row of sinks in the communal shower block, they saw her point.

Pooh Bear had a stream of dried blood running from his nose, from when he had hit the floor after being paralysed in Muniz’s lair. But he was definitely the more presentable of the two.

Although there were no outward wounds on Stretch’s body, he was deathly pale and emancipated. Bones jutted out from his already thin frame. His hair was matted with sickly green formaldehyde goop, and there were deep shadows in the hollows of his bones.

“You, my friend, look like a walking skeleton,” Pooh Bear said, clapping his hands on Stretch’s shoulders, “and I have never been more glad to see you.”

“I might have to borrow some padding from you,” Stretch teased, poking Pooh Bear in his ample stomach.

“You’re welcome to it,” Pooh said, with a gruff laugh, “as long as you promise not to get captured by the Mossad again. I don’t fancy another rescue like that.”

“I’ll try my best,” Stretch replied, with a small smile. “Hey Pooh?”

“What?”

“Thanks for coming for me.”

They both agreed that a hot shower, a long rest, and several big meals were in order before speaking to Lily.

She had already been through so much, and so much more still rested on her little shoulders, but there were some things even the hardiest of eleven year olds didn’t need to see.

It would take longer to heal fully, but forty-eight hours later, Stretch thought himself presentable enough to speak to Lily and Zoe agreed. He was carefully propped up on a slightly ridiculous pile of pillows, and a notebook computer brought to him.

Back in Perth, Lily was woken in the early hours of a Sunday morning by a gentle pressure on her shoulder.

“There’s a video call for you sweetheart,” Lois said.

“Is it my Daddy?” Lily asked. She hadn’t heard from him or anyone since they had dropped her off in Perth. She was still a little mad at him, but not enough that she didn’t want to speak to him.

“No,” Lois replied, “It’s Zoe and another of your dad’s friends. Zoe said to tell you that you’ll want to take this call.”

Lily ambled into the study where the Calvin’s family computer sat. She was dressed in her pyjamas and still rubbing at her bleary eyes when she caught sight of the screen, and suddenly she wasn’t sleepy anymore. Her eyes widened in disbelief and delight.

It was like Christmas and Eid and Hanukkah had all come at once, because on the screen were the smiling faces of Zoe, and Pooh Bear, and _Stretch_.

“Shana Tovah, Lily,” he said. “I missed you very much.”


End file.
